page_title: Seattle riot of 1886
section_title: Riot
hierarchical_section_title: Seattle riot of 1886 / Riot
caption_attribution_description: English: John McGraw, King County, Washington sheriff during the anti-Chinese riot in Seattle, Washington 1886; later a lawyer, second governor of Washington State, and a businessman, in that sequence. There is a statue of him in Seattle's Times Square, by the Westin Hotel.
context_page_description: The Seattle riot of 1886 occurred on February 6–9, 1886, in Seattle, Washington, amidst rising anti-Chinese sentiment caused by intense labor competition and in the context of an ongoing struggle between labor and capital in the Western United States. The dispute arose when a mob affiliated with a local Knights of Labor chapter formed small committees to carry out a forcible expulsion of all Chinese from the city. Violence erupted between the Knights of Labor rioters and federal troops ordered in by President Grover Cleveland. The incident resulted in the removal of over 200 Chinese civilians from Seattle and left two militia men and three rioters seriously injured.
context_section_description: On the morning of February 7, many "committees" forced their way into Chinese homes, demanding the Chinese pack their bags and report to the steamship Queen of the Pacific at 1pm. The committees set up wagons through Seattle's Chinatown to haul baggage down to the pier. After a search was conducted for Chinese who fled or hid, the committees led some 350 Chinese from Chinatown to the pier. Local Sheriff John McGraw was aroused to enforce law and order with his force of deputies, but McGraw was sympathetic to the plight of the Knights and simply protected the Chinese immigrants from violence on their way to the pier. When Governor Squire ordered the dispersal of the mob and the release of the Chinese, the riotous mob ignored him. Thus, Squire called for the local "Seattle Rifles" militia and requested the aid of federal troops to assist McGraw.
  Meanwhile, at the dock, rioters were significantly short of raising the funds needed to transport 350 people by steamship. Only 97 of 350 Chinese had their fare paid. U.S. Justice Greene heard of the incident through an angered Chinese merchant and issued a writ of habeas corpus which required the captain of the Queen to produce the Chinese in court the next morning. At midnight, McGraw along with local militia blocked two attempts by the mob to lead the remaining 253 Chinese to a train to Tacoma. McGraw defused the situation by ordering the train to leave before the mob could reach it.
  The next morning, McGraw led the 97 passengers still on the Queen of the Pacific to the territorial court as ordered by Justice Greene. There was an incident along the way as the mob tried to block their progress and 8 Knights leaders were arrested. Once there, Greene informed the Chinese that they had a legal right to remain in the city. Though he promised to protect them, only 16 elected to stay and the rest were escorted back to the ship. By the time they had returned the mob had raised funds for the additional passage of 115 more Chinese and the boat set sail. It was agreed that the remaining 150 Chinese would depart on the steamship George Elder once funds had been raised.
  News of the agreement failed to spread throughout Seattle. As McGraw, his deputies, and the militiamen tried to lead the Chinese back to their homes, a new mob formed, incensed at the arrest of their leaders. The militiamen clubbed members of the mob with rifle butts when progress was impeded. When members of the mob began to wrest the militia rifles, shots rang out and stopped only after 2 militia men and 3 rioters lay seriously injured. The mob backed off and prepared for another charge when an extra company of militiamen arrived and sent the crowd into a confused state. Once McGraw stated that those responsible for the shooting would be prosecuted, the crowd dispersed. When a third mob threatened the lives of the militiamen who fired upon the crowd, Governor Squire issued martial law.
  Neither Greene nor Squire believed that McGraw and his combined militia force would be able to enforce martial law in the territory, and federal troops arrived in Seattle on February 10 and found it "devoid of traces...of the rioting". Squire ended martial law and restored local civil order on February 23. Most troops were recalled, but two companies of troops were left in Seattle for another 4 months after the riot.
caption: John McGraw, Washington sheriff during the anti-Chinese riot of Seattle in 1886; later a lawyer, second governor of Washington State, and a businessman. Photo circa 1890.
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